Fiat Still in Talks With Banks Over Financing for Chrysler Purchase

According to the Wall Street Journal, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is in talks with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and other banks for a potential financing to acquire Chrysler.

Last month, anonymous sources said that Fiat might secure financing to purchase the rest of Chrysler in May. But it seems that the Italian automaker is still in talks with the banks, which will decide whether they will offer the company financing to purchase the rest of 41.5% in Chrysler, currently owned by UAW’s retirees’ healthcare trust called VEBA.

Sergio Marchionne, Fiat and Chrysler CEO, plans to merge the two automakers and create the seventh largest auto group, also relying on Chrysler’s cash flow to help Fiat make up for the loss in Europe and build economies of scale.

Rumors say that after the merge Fiat’s headquarters will be moved from Turin, Italy to North America. Fiat’s headquarters shift would be a heavy blow for Italy, which already struggles with recession and the highest unemployment level for the past two decades.

“An eventual move of the headquarters is a consequence of Marchionne’s strategy since the acquisition of Chrysler,” said Federico Bellono, head of the Fiom union in Turin. “The real problem for us is that this may imply a less strategic industrial presence of the group in the country, while we still have thousands of workers still on temporary layoff.”